


Can't Help It If There's No One Else

by UberDuper



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: AU, F/M, They grow up together, it'll be cute and sad, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-06 05:03:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4208961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UberDuper/pseuds/UberDuper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which young Hinata finds a girl trying to take a picture of a rabbit and makes a friend for life.</p><p>AU where Hinata and Koizumi are childhood friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because there is not enough Hinazumi in this world and I intend to help alleviate that problem.

Nine year old Hinata was unsure of what he was seeing. He stood a good twenty feet from the edge of the playground, a grassy field before him. In the green expanse crouched a girl about his age with a head of short, fiery red hair. In her hands was a small, yellow shape, which was clutched tightly in her grasp. She seemed to be hiding. Hinata cocked his head. What was she hiding from? None of the other kids were playing hide and seek or anything. Or did they just not invite him? Hinata frowned. If they did, that wasn't nice.

He approached the girl, quietly watching her watching the grass. Once he was closer, Hinata found that the thing in her hands was a disposable camera. Huh. Did she find it here? He cocked his head, silently observing the girl. She hadn't noticed him yet, instead focusing on... was that a rabbit?

“Hey, what are you doing?” Hinata asked. The girl leapt into the air, falling on her butt with a squeak. The rabbit snapped its head towards the pair, scampering off into the tall grass soon afterward. The girl angrily stood up, rubbing her butt with one hand and clutching the camera with the other.

“What's your problem?! I was just about to get a good one!” She angrily shook the camera at Hinata, who just looked confused.

“A good what?”

“A picture, you dummy!” The girl put her hands on her hips, seemingly a practiced action. “I was just about to take a cool picture of that rabbit when you scared me!”

“Oh.” Hinata glanced back at the playground, a small wave of embarrassed heat flowing across his body. Now he felt bad. “Um... sorry? I didn't know...” The girl just sighed, shaking her head.

“Fine. I forgive you.” She huffed to make her dissatisfaction evident, something that, again, made it seem like she'd been watching too much TV. Hinata knew there were all sorts of people who acted like that on TV.

“Um... I'm Hinata.” He decided that he had to make it up to her some how. “What's your name?”

“...I'm Koizumi.” She responded, making Hinata smile.

“Hey, that's cool. My favorite letter is 'K'. Oh, but I also like 'H', cuz that's what my name starts with. I think both are my favorite, actually.” Hinata looked back up at the girl, who he could see had a smile forming. “So um... sorry about the rabbit. If you want, you can come back to my house with me. I think my mom is making me peanut butter and jelly for lunch. I told my mom I didn't want ramen again, but I think she might make me eat it for dinner instead.” Hinata grumbled at the thought of it. He'd had so much ramen that week.

“Really?” Koizumi's eyes lit up. “I've never had that before! My dad always makes me eat dumb stuff like microwave dinners and stuff. He said it's cuz he doesn't like to cook, but think he just doesn't know how.” At that, Koizumi pouted.

“Huh. That's weird.” Hinata reached forward, grabbing Koizumi's free hand so he could lead her to his house. She glanced down at it, quietly staring for a moment before returning to look at Hinata himself. He grinned. “I've never had one of those before. My mom always wants to make dinner, but she only knows how to make fish and miso!” That prompted a laugh from Koizumi. Hinata began pulling her in the direction of his house by her hand, the girl following after him.

“My dad doesn't make anything! And my mom is always away.”

“Huh? Really?” Hinata frowned. That was weird. His mom was always home. “Why?”

“She takes pictures of battles and stuff. I want to be like her one day.” Koizumi held up the camera in her hand, waving it around a bit. “That's why I wanna take pictures with this. But I only like to do happy things like rabbits and smiling people.” Her grin was radiant, inspiring Hinata to smile too.

“Well that's cool. C'mon though. My mom said I could watch that new anime on TV if I get home early enough. Maybe you can watch with me!”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up again, and her hand excitedly squeezed his. “Let's go then!” And with that, the pair ran off to Hinata's house, which they quickly found out was just down the street from Koizumi's. Something told Hinata they were going to be friends forever.

 


	2. Chapter 2

“...” Hinata grumbled, chewing on the eraser of his pencil. Algebra was killing him. Math was killing him. Secondary school was killing him. He groaned, flopping forward onto his dining room table, head making a dull thump as it connected with the surface. His father glanced up from his newspaper and adjusted his glasses.

“What are you whining about?”

“C'mon, dad.” Hinata whined, making exaggerated motions at his homework. “This stuff is totally lame and I've been working on it for like... an hour. You know what I could have been doing in that hour? I coulda been watching TV or doing something outside or backflipping off of the roof.”

“...You know, those sound exactly like reasons to make you continue doing your homework...” His dad noted, glancing back down at his paper. Hinata groaned again, reluctantly picking up his pencil and attempting to refocus on what he was doing.

“Aww dad, I was just joking. About the backflipping thing.” He glanced over at his dad hopefully, eyes pleading. “Please? I'll go over to Koizumi's or something, please please please?”

“...” Hinata's dad ignored him, letting out a clearly contemplating snort from his nose, eyes continuing to scan the paper. It was silent for a few moments before his dad sighed for real and put the paper down. “Take your work with you so I can at least say tell your mother you went to Koizumi's house to work on it.”

“Really?!” Hinata's eyes lit up and he quickly began to gather up his homework. “Thanks dad!” His dad just let out another snort and picked the paper back up.

“Be back in two hours.”

“You got it!” Hinata, book and papers in hand, scrambled up out of his chair and over to the phone. He dialed up Koizumi's number and anxiously waited for somebody to pick up. It took a few moments, but eventually the phone was answered and a tired, irritated voice spoke up.

“...Hello?” Hinata frowned. It was her father. The two weren't exactly on the best of terms, so Hinata typically attempted to avoid him.

“Uh... hello. It's Hinata.”

“Oh.” The annoyance in his voice was clearly audible, even over the phone. Hinata wilted slightly, but resisted the urge to hang up right then and there. “Whaddaya want, kid?”

“Is um... is Mahiru home? I kinda... w-wanted to hang out.”

“...” The line was quiet for a moment, then the voice on the other end snorted. “She's busy with school work. Call back later.” Hinata frowned. School work? But... didn't she finish it in class?

“W-Wait!” Hinata called out before Koizumi's father could hang up. “Wait. Um... would it be okay if I... you know, came over and worked on it with her? Cuz um... I wanted to ask her about some problems and-”

“Kid?” Her father cut in before he could finish. “Come over if you want.” And before Hinata could say anything else, her father hung up, leaving the phone buzzing in his hand. Hinata stared at it for a couple of moments before slowly hanging it up and picking his stuff up. Yeesh.

* * *

 

“Dang, so your dad's having people over again?” Hinata glanced up from his position at Koizumi's desk, scribbling out a few numbers on his homework. The redhead sighed and nodded, fiddling with one of her cameras. “That's like... the third time this week. That sucks.”

“I know!” Koizumi threw a hand up in the air, flopping backwards onto her bed. “I don't get why he always makes _me_ clean up the messes he and his friends make! I'm twelve! If I can do it, then he can too, right?”

“Maybe he can't?” Hinata offered. Koizumi cocked an eyebrow at him, confused. He elaborated. “I mean... maybe he doesn't know how or can't and he's just... embarrassed to tell you? Maybe that's why your mom taught you, cuz he didn't ever learn how to do chores and now he can't learn anymore?”

“...I don't think that's how it works...” Mahiru grumbled, but he could tell she hadn't considered it. Hinata tried to backpedal. He could see the hurt expression developing on her face. It made him feel gross, an oily, slimy feeling in the pit of his stomach, to know that his words made her feel bad.

“W-Well... I mean, it's not like it's your fault!” Hinata let out a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his head. “I guess he shoulda told you he can't do 'em... but still!”

“...You're right.” Koizumi sat back up, smiling.

“'Course.” He grinned right back, returning to his work. Before he could get more than another problem done, however, the sound of the front door slamming caught their attention. Hinata felt himself balk. He didn't know a lot about Koizumi's dad, but he did know that his friends tended to stay past their welcome. And Hinata sure as heck wasn't going to bail and leave Koizumi here by herself. Still... if he wanted to leave, now was his chance.

“Hey, you need some help with that?” Koizumi hopped off of her bed, plodding over to Hajime and glancing over his shoulder. With a sigh, Hinata settled back into the chair and pointed out the problem he was on.

“See this one right here?...”

* * *

 

“Yeah...” Hinata cringed, glancing at the ceiling. His dad was chewing him out over the phone for staying two hours too late at Koizumi's house. “Yeah, dad... no, I... I ate dinner here... yeah... I _know_ that you said to come back, but... eugh... Dad... dad, just... can you please...”

“...” Koizumi watched him from her position at the sink, washing the last of the dishes her father had left behind.

“I just didn't want her to be alone, okay?” He was ready to start yelling, but all that would do was get his dessert taken away for a week. The other end of the call went silent, the two of them sitting quietly before Hinata answered the next question. “...yeah, her father went out... no, he just left like... five minutes ago.”

The redhead looked away, embarrassment flooding her cheeks as she placed the last of the dishes in the drying rack. Hinata's dad was a really nice guy. Sometimes, Koizumi wondered why her dad wasn't the same.

“Hey, uh... Mahiru? You there?” Hinata waved a bit, catching Koizumi's attention. She jolted a little, looking away and giving a quiet, forced laugh.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” She smiled, barely. “What's up? Do you have to go home now?”

“Kind of.” Rubbing the back of his head with his free hand, Hinata shrugged a little. “My dad was wondering if you wanted to... come over and sleep at my house? Like... you know how your dad is... and he... y'know...” This time he gave a full shrug, not wanting to offend her or anything.

“Yeah...” Koizumi looked away. What she wouldn't give to not spend the night alone. But her father would get mad if she wasn't there if he got back, and she had no idea whether or not he _was_ coming back that night or not. She'd learned it was better to play it safe. So she shook her head and crossed her arms. “I'm fine... thanks for the offer though, Hajime.”

“Oh.” Hinata blinked a few times, looking confused. “Uh... okay.” Still seemingly bewildered, he put the phone back against his ear. “Dad? She can't... yeah... yeah, okay. Bye.” The boy shook his head, hanging up the phone and putting it back.

“I'll see you tomorrow.” Koizumi managed, snapping Hinata back to attention.

“Right! Uh... tomorrow.” He managed a grin, pulling her in for a quick, surprise hug. After a moment, Koizumi returned it, and they separated with smiles on their faces. “Catch ya later.” Hinata flashed a thumbs up and then was gone, the front door slamming shut with a sense of finality. Koizumi sighed and made her way upstairs. She'd see him tomorrow.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> despair arc episode 3 finally helped me finish this.

Hinata hit the pavement with a grunt, his vision spinning and sparking from the punch to the face he had just received. His cheek throbbed, and he could feel his skin buzzing and beginning to swell. Still, he pulled himself up to his shaky feet, fists clenched.

“Back for more?” The other boy taunted, wiping a line of blood dribbling from his nose. The sky was a mellow orange-red, purple bleeding into the clouds. The world seemed to slow as the two squared off, waiting to see what would happen.

“Just... just go away.” Hinata growled, straightening his back. Behind him, a streetlight flickered on, yellow light casting Hinata's shadow across the sidewalk. “You're just a bully.”

“So what?” The boy threw a hook, Hinata stumbling back in order to dodge. In the process, he toppled backwards, dashing tiny cuts across his palms as they hit the pavement. The boy laughed, directing a kick forward, his foot impacting Hinata's shin. His leg reared back, and Hinata wheezed as the breath was knocked out of him. “Yeah, how's that?!”

“Hajime!” A voice to the side made both Hinata and the boy's gaze snap to the side. A battered Koizumi, her shirt scuffed and dirtied, jogged up. Her left eye was swollen, the skin already turning black and blue. Suddenly, her arm whipped forward, and a rock spun through the air, striking the boy's back. He let out a yelp and whirled around to face the redhead.

Though Hinata scrambled to his feet as fast as he could, he wasn't fast enough to stop the boy, who darted towards his friend. Koziumi yelled as the boy's palms impacted her shoulders. She quickly fell backwards, landing on her butt as the boy loomed over her.

“You think I won't hit a girl?!” He screeched, balling his fists. “You saw me hit that other girl! Me and my friend'll do the same to you!” Koizumi scuttled backwards, eyes darting around. The boy continued to follow her, breathing heavily. “Bitch.” The word sounded both threatening and awkward as it left his mouth, as though he had only learned it last week.

Before the boy could raise another hand at Koizumi, Hinata's shoulder drove into the kid's side, and they slammed into the ground. The other boy let out a grunt, and Hinata socked him in the face. Jaw clenched, Hinata drove his fist into the boy's face again, and then again. His knuckle split open as it hit a tooth at the wrong angle, but Hinata kept going.

“You think it's okay to hurt my friend?” Hinata growled, pinning the boy's arms down with his legs. “Huh? You think that's fine?” He punched the boy again, this time in the throat. The boy began coughing, and Hinata felt somebody yank him forcefully backwards by his collar.

“C'mon, Hajime!” Koizumi released Hinata's shirt, turning and running a few meters. She helped somebody off of the ground before booking it, the person's arm slung over her shoulder. Hinata narrowed his eyes at the kid on the ground before following suit, limping as fast as he could after Koizumi.

* * *

 

Hinata sat at his dining room table, grimacing as his father dabbed at a cut under his eye with a peroxide soaked cotton ball. He let out a hiss as the disinfectant stung, fizzing on his skin. His father simply shook his head, lightly wiping up the blood that beaded up on an abrasion on his arm.

“I honestly don't understand how you get into things like this,” His father murmured, taking a piece of gauze and layering it over the abrasion. Hinata silently watched him use medical tape to secure it before speaking.

“Dad, I...” He trailed off, eyes finding his way over to his mother and Koizumi. The two of them seemed to be doting upon the whole reason Hinata had gotten half beat up in the first place. A poor girl with short, chestnut brown hair. She was the most messed up out of the three of them, and Hinata could see a pretty deep gash on her arm that his mother was fussing over.

“No, it's fine.” Hinata's father replied, sighing. “I'm not saying I approve of how you did it, but I'm glad that you did your best. And that's what matters.” Hinata offered his father a lopsided smile.

“Thanks, dad.”

“Just...” His father began, before letting out another tired sigh. “Just please try to be a bit more careful next time. I'm not sure your mother wants to patch up anybody like this again.”

“...Okay.” Hinata slid out of his chair, somewhat unsteady on his feet. The bruise on his leg had an ice pack taped to it, but the purple and yellow blot still peeked out from behind the pack. Hinata and his father made their way over to the others, the girl in the chair timidly glancing up at Hinata. Up close, he could see the bruises and cuts mottling her face and arms. Her clothes were frayed, and looked almost as disheveled as her hair.

Koizumi looked arguably better. Her black eye stood out against her pale skin, and the band-aids and bandages on her skin covered up some of the worse wounds, the smaller ones drawing attention with their red tint. She turned to Hinata as he approached, a frown on her face.

“Are you okay, Hajime?” Koizumi reached out, fingers gracing over a long scratch on his neck. He hissed involuntarily, causing her hand to quickly retract. In response, Hinata let out a hesitant laugh, holding both of his hands up.

“I'm fine! S-Sorry, that one stings a little.”

“Well then.” Hinata's mother said, finally standing up. “I've dressed the worst of your wounds, but you should still keep an eye on them either way. You don't want them to get infected.”

“O-Of course... thank you, ma'am.” The girl replied, twiddling her thumbs in what looked like embarrassment. Hinata blinked a little, watching as she nibbled on her split lip, and the girl looked up to find four pairs of eyes on her. “Um... th-thanks for helping me out.”

“No problem.” Koizumi smiled at her. Hinata's mother laid her hand on his father's shoulder and whispered something to him, and the two walked away, leaving the three alone in the kitchen. Koizumi pulled up another chair, sitting down next to the girl and swinging her legs a little. “So, I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Oh um...” The girl glanced away, keeping her hands in her lap. “I'm... my name's Satou. Kotono Satou.”

“That's a nice name.” Koizumi replied, reaching forward. Her fingertips grazed Satou's shoulder, making the other girl flinch away. “Ah, sorry,” Koizumi laughed quietly. “I'm Mahiru Koizumi.” Hinata felt something bump his knee, and Koizumi cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Eh? Oh!” Hinata swiveled towards Satou, holding out his hand to her. “Hajime Hinata. Nice to meet you.” Satou stared at his outstretched hand, both of her hands still nestled in her lap. After a few moments, Hinata lowered his arm, awkwardly looking away. Satou anxiously returned her gaze to the floor, violet eyes scanning the tiled kitchen floor.

“I... sorry.” She sighed, slowly rising to her feet. Hinata and Koizumi watched her curiously. “I should probably get going...”

“Well hey, let us walk you home!” Koizumi popped out of her seat, arms clasped behind her back. “Just to make sure you're okay, y'know?”

“Well...” Satou seemed to consider it, before shaking her head. “It's pretty far away... and... I don't wanna impose on you guys any more...”

“It's cool.” Hinata replied. “I can get my dad to drive you home.”

“That's right.” Koizumi nodded, planting her hands on her hips. “You can consider us friends, if you'd like.” At that, Satou's head snapped up, the sudden movement shocking Hinata.

“Y... You really mean that?” Satou asked. Koizumi smiled at her, and Hinata offered her a lame thumbs up. “You... you guys wouldn't mind being friends with me?”

“Of course!” Koizumi held out a hand, a warm expression still painting her beat-up face. “You can hang out with us any time you want. Right, Hajime?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, putting on his own smile. “You're welcome over here anytime. Um... hold on. Lemme get a piece of paper.” Hinata scrambled away, leaving Koizumi along with Satou. He scrounged around in the kitchen drawers, eventually locating a pen and a pad of sticky notes. Uncapping the pen with his mouth, Hinata scrawled out his and Koizumi's phone numbers on the top note before peeling it off and heading back into the dining room.

When he returned, Koizumi was laughing, perched on the edge of the table, and Hinata was surprised to see a timid smile on Satou's face. Though she was still bruised and battered, a tiny bit of blood beading up on her lip and a cut on her arm, Satou seemed a lot more comfortable.

“I'm serious!” Koizumi said. “I really do think that you would look good with longer hair. I've been meaning to try and grow my own out, but it never really works out.”

“I'll say.” Hinata snarked, prompting Koizumi to shoot him a playful glare. Sticking his tongue out at Mahiru, he walked up to Satou, holding the sticky note out to her. “That's our phone numbers. Feel free to give us a call any time you wanna hang or something.” Satou's eyes seemed to sparkle a bit in awe as she stared at the sticky note. Slowly but surely, her hand drifted forward, hesitating just millimeters away from the paper. She glanced up, gaze filled with uncertainty, but Hinata just smiled and pushed it the rest of the way into her hand.

“...” Satou blinked, eyes flitting between the sticky note, Hinata, and Koizumi. “...Thank you.”

“Don't worry about it.” Koizumi said, hopping off of the table. “Now, let's get you home.”

“Hey, dad!” Hinata shouted, and started heading towards the door when he heard the sound of his dad shuffling around. Koizumi trotted up to him with Satou in tow, and the three were out the front door before Hinata's father even got close.

 


End file.
